Storm On The Island

Question 1

‘We are prepared’ - Analysis

Answer 1

• Declarative
• Arrogance, too confident in ability to overpower nature, power of nature vs man
• They’ve adapted their whole lives to resisting the power of nature
• Ironic as the poem then describes how nature completely attacks them
• Short sentence, trying to disguise their fear
• Pronoun ‘we’ - sense of togetherness and community, brings reader in
• Caesura, narrator will explain more, has an opening similar to that of a story, links to enjambment

Question 2

Form and Structure

Answer 2

• Iambic pentameter, conversational tone, links to theme of community
• No consistent rhyme scheme, reflects how order can’t been enforced on nature, omnipotence of nature
• Enjambment, readers feel breathless, replicated the panic islanders face, reflects the constant barrage of info or storm

Question 3

‘Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale (…) forgetting that it pummels your house too’

Answer 3

• Personified, even nature is protesting against the historical landscape of political unrest
• Mournful atmosphere
• Highlights the repetitive nature of the storm, like a chorus
• ‘Tragic chorus’ - allusion, narrates the events in a Greek tragedy when a catastrophic end is inevitable, security is eclipsed by sounds of fear, warning
• Suggests that any violence committed against one side is also commuted against yourself
• Fricatives, anger between Ireland as well as from him about the situation

Question 4

‘Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs’

Answer 4

• Oxymoron
• Desensitised to the fear of nature
• Deliberate reference to bombing, Ireland has become to comfortable with
• Alludes to the strength of people to continue normal life despite events around them, with apparent inability for politicians to resolve peacefully
• Suggesting they’re somewhere else, but they’re not actually that far away and they’ll get closer to home, maybe even to Britain, warning